


Who Wants To Live Forever

by sleepismyfriend



Category: Doctor Who (2005), The Sarah Jane Adventures
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2010-11-28
Updated: 2010-11-28
Packaged: 2017-10-13 10:31:53
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,458
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/136289
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sleepismyfriend/pseuds/sleepismyfriend
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The Doctor and Sarah's gang race to save Sarah before it's too late.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Who Wants To Live Forever

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [From Olympus](https://archiveofourown.org/works/133706) by [sleepismyfriend](https://archiveofourown.org/users/sleepismyfriend/pseuds/sleepismyfriend). 



> Spoilers for 4x12 Goodbye Sarah Jane.

Sarah struggled to open her eyes, feeling the drain of her life force affecting her ability to think, or move, or feel. Ruby hadn't appeared in the darkened cellar in quite some time, and the red mass of alien remained silent and just pulsed in front of her, full of her energy.

She had lost feeling in most of her lower extremities several minutes ago, having fallen to the floor with her knees pulled towards her and the shackles still binding her to the wall. Her muddled mind, however, was still working at finding a way out, but it wasn't any use. She only hoped that Rani and Clyde weren't too far behind.

"Don't give up, old girl." She managed to crack her eyes open just enough to see a pair of feet crouched down in between her and the giant red mass. His shoes were black, but his pants were white and she could see the edges of his navy blazer. "The Doctor will sort this."

She knew that voice.

"I—Don't think so, Harry." Sarah tried looking up, only to have her eyes roll back in her head. "He's nowhere near here."

She caught her breath before her brain caught up, and managed to catch a glimpse of Harry Sullivan's face. Dear sweet Harry. Looking like no time had passed at all with his dark curls and all too serious features. He looked at real as anyone that could have been crouched in front of her.

"Why can't you save me?" Sarah found a bitter taste on her tongue as it grew more and more heavy. She knew she needed water, and needed it soon if she had any hope of surviving.

Harry shifted down to the floor to sit next to her.

"Because, I'm not supposed to. I'd just put my foot in it, after all." Harry tried to smile, leaning on one knee. "Not quite the rescuing type."

"I don't believe that." Sarah's eyes went upward. "All those people you saved with your medicine. You're just being modest."

"And you need to save your strength." He wagged his finger at her, and Sarah wanted to laugh more than anything, but couldn't find the energy. "When the Doctor gets here, you'll be fine. I'm only here to keep you company."

"Until I die?"

"Until you live, old girl." He touched her cheek for the first time with just one finger, and Sarah felt her eyes fluttering closed. "You need to rest."

"Harry, is there a heaven?" Sarah licked her lips and let out a half-sigh. She wasn't sure of anything she was supposed to be saying anymore.

"Of course, Sarah." He stroked her cheek, and Sarah fought back tears at the comfort. "Floating all around us with deep white clouds, and golden angels with harps as clear as glass. Just waiting for us."

"Thanks, Harry, you're a pal." Between the stroke of her cheek and his calm smile reassuring her, Sarah was gently being lulled to a dreamlike state. She felt her limbs easing more than she would like.

It's okay, she thought to herself, Luke would wake her for tea.

\--

  
The Doctor stepped out of the TARDIS at 46 Forest Road with Luke, Rani, and Clyde following behind him. He looked at the scanning watch on his wrist that the TARDIS had created and then at the area in question.

"C'mon, I think I've found the front door." The Doctor went inside first, and automatically began scanning for Sarah. The watch was working to his satisfaction as he detected Sarah was the only human not accounted for in his search. "Down. We need to go down. There has a cellar or passage of some sort. Rani, Luke, do you see anything?"

"You mean like this?" Clyde pointed to the door nearest to him, opening it to see the wooden stairs going down to somewhere darker. He was obviously pleased to having found the door first as the Doctor pushed his way past them.

"Geronimo." The Doctor automatically went down the stairs, not wanting to think he was too late. Their eyes adjusted quickly to the shift in lighting as the cinderblock walls prevented any real intrusion of daylight. As he focused his eyes, he saw Sarah lying on the hard ground and his hearts raced even faster.

"Mum—" Luke was the first to say something as the Doctor moved towards Sarah, pulling out his sonic screwdriver to undo the locks on her shackles. Once they were undone, he moved behind her, dropping to the floor and pulling the shackles away from her wrists and feet while he other three remained almost hesitant to approach.

"She's alive." The Doctor felt for a pulse, and exhaled a secret sigh of relief as he put his arms under her and pulled her close. "Barely breathing, but still alive. C'mon, Smith, now is not the time to go dying on me."

In her delirium, Sarah's eyes cracked open at the sound of the Doctor's voice and she looked up to see him staring down at her, mumbling inaudibly under her breath in response.

"It's alright, Sarah, I'm here now." The Doctor knew what she had said, and was just as focused on Sarah as the giant red pulsing mass across from them that appeared to be growing in size.

Soul sucking aliens weren't exactly known in this part of the universe, and the Doctor knew that they generally always came in two parts. So, the question was, if this was the stomach, absorbing energy like a sponge, where was the other half? The receiver of such an enormous amount of energy?

The Doctor had pulled Sarah up enough so that her head could rest on his shoulder, and secured his left arm so that she wouldn't fall.

"We need to get her out of here, Doctor." Clyde said, standing between Luke and Rani with his eyes solely focused on Sarah. "And, away from that thing."

"Yeah, what is that?" Rani was intrigued herself. In all of their adventures, she had never seen anything like it before.

"It doesn't matter. We need to figure out how to destroy it before it destroys what's left of Mum." Luke's eyes were also on Sarah, and he worried that the Doctor wasn't doing enough.

"We can't just go destroy it, Luke. What kind of sense does that make? It contains most of your mother's life force and if we destroy it, we destroy her. We'll just have to find a way to reverse the polarity of its pull." The Doctor could feel Sarah getting colder by the minute, and wished that he could take his jacket and shield her with it. His own body wasn't exactly known for warmth. "I need all of you to think."

"What about the sonic screwdriver?" Luke suggested. "We don't have Mum's sonic, but we have yours. You could send out a pulse that could essentially reverse the connection between that thing and Mum."

"Excellent theory, Lukey-boy." With his left arm secure around Sarah, the Doctor took his right hand to fish through his right jacket pocket and pull out the latest and greatest version of the sonic screwdriver he had created thus far. He tossed it to the young man. "Try setting number 734.9 and aim for the centre. It should hopefully do the trick."

"And if it doesn't?" Clyde wanted to know, but the Doctor heard Sarah before he could answer.

"Doctor—" Sarah finally spoke audibly, a small wave of relief washing over her at remembering him and he shushed her with his right thumb over her lips before she could say anything else.

"I'm going to fix this, Sarah." His thumb shifted down and sat in the middle of her chin as his fingers flexed against her cheek. He tried his best to be reassuring. "Trust me."

"Oh, I'm afraid she's not going anywhere." Ruby had come up from behind Clyde, and they moved aside to let her pass in front of them. "For you see, her soul is worth more than you can possibly fathom and all mine for the keeping."

"And you think you're the expert on knowing how much souls are worth? Using souls for breakfast, lunch and dinner? Oh, and let's not forget tea or a midnight snack." The Doctor looked up to the woman in red, knowing that she wasn't really a woman at all and disgusted at her use of the human form for her type of evil. "That's right, I know exactly who and what you are and what that thing over there is."

"Impressive." Ruby's eyes went to the pulsing red mass as the Doctor motioned to it with his right hand.

"Not so impressive. I'm a Time Lord. I know things beyond your puny imagination."

"Now, that is just silly. Time Lords are just a legend." Ruby laughed, and Clyde resisted the urge to tackle her to the ground and beat her senselessly. "An echo on the wisps of time."

Ruby's eyes narrowed as she thought of the distinct possibility that the Doctor was telling the truth. "Though, if you really are a Time Lord, I'm honoured you know who I am."

"There's a reason they know me as the Oncoming Storm, Katesh, and another reason why you've been living in a Nyladrone-type pod orbiting the Earth." The Doctor knew he had to keep Ruby distracted while Luke fiddled with the sonic. "Biding your time and plotting your escape."

The Doctor noticed the wristband on Ruby's arm, and quickly formed a backup plan should the first one fail. "So, let's make a trade. My soul for Sarah's. Surely, that's equitable enough? You give up this one measly little human, and I'll give you one epic amount of excitement come mealtime."

"That's quite a sacrifice. Even from one mythical Time Lord."

"Do we have a deal or not? Because if Sarah dies, then the deal is off the table and you'll have to really and truly deal with me." The Doctor had noticed that Sarah had once again passed out, and knew he needed to remain calm and focus on dealing with Ruby. "And believe me, there will be nowhere you can hide."

"You can't do that. It isn't what Sarah would want." Rani shouted, stepping forward, taking the Doctor and Ruby by surprise at her boldness. She could see Luke's grip on the sonic tighten, and knew that time had reached critical. "You know her better than anyone, Doctor. Do you honestly think that she would want you to sacrifice yourself for her? Is that really the best thing?"

Rani was standing along side Ruby now, just close enough to reach of her bracelet. The Doctor could see the look in her eyes, and silently tried to send back his own message that the bracelet was important as he looked down to Sarah.

"Do we have a deal, or not, Katesh?" The Doctor's tone was much quieter and firmer as he returned his gaze to Ruby with her arms crossed and her head tilted. He knew every single thought that was going through her head without using any telepathy, an apt trick that he had learned over the years.

"No." Ruby's jaw went square. "I don't think so. Absolutely not."

"Seriously? You'd rather have one measly little human's soul than a smorgasbord of Time Lord energy? What kind of Katesh are you? A stupid one?"

"Spare me your logic, Time Lord. You and I both know the frailty of the human race. Sooner or later, Sarah Jane Smith's time would come to an end." Ruby motioned to Sarah, and the Doctor could tell that her breaths were becoming even more laboured the longer he took to devise and execute a plan.

He looked to Luke for affirmation that he was ready, and by the small nod, the Doctor knew he was. "So, the better question is, what is this one human to you that you would be willing to sacrifice everything for her?"

There was a moment of silence as their gazes locked.

"You underestimate the strength of the human race, Katesh." The Doctor gave a silent tiny nod as Luke pointed the sonic screwdriver at the red mass and fired.

The high-pitched squeal of the sonic screwdriver did nothing to the giant red mass as Ruby turned and punched Luke hard in the stomach. The sonic screwdriver went flying in the air and hit the floor near the giant red mass as Clyde then kicked one of Ruby's legs out from under her.

"Rani—" The Doctor shouted, seeing the sonic go across the floor as the boys wrestled with Ruby. It wasn't a fair fight for the boys, but that was neither here nor there as Rani clamoured down to where the sonic was almost devoured by the red mass.

Lucky for all of them, she rescued it.

"It didn't work before. There's no telling that it'll work now. What do I do?" She held it in both hands, staring at it as though it was her lifeline. She had never been entrusted with something so important before.

"The bracelet, Rani, the bracelet. Don't be scared. Point the pronged end of the screwdriver at her bracelet and fire away—" The Doctor ordered, clutching onto Sarah as he rolled her inward into him as much as possible, and hoped that they all could come back from this. Ruby came to her feet for another go at Luke and Clyde before Rani fired, and then clutched her head and fell to the floor.

Luke and Clyde helped each other off the floor as Rani's hands remained fixed out in front of her, her eyes wide at what she had just done. Waves of white were emanating in and around Ruby, and all of them knew that they witnessing something they had never seen before.

"Doctor, what did you do?" Luke examined the shivering Ruby first, immobile in a ball on the floor. "She's frozen."

"I didn't do anything, Lukey-boy." The Doctor smiled, looking up towards him. "Rani did."

"All I did was point and fire," Rani said, swallowing the lump in her throat with her eyes now locked on Ruby.

"Exactly," the Doctor said. "That's all you had to do, Rani. Point and fire."

"But it didn't work. The first time, I mean. Luke pointed the screwdriver at that thing, and it didn't work," Clyde said, mimicking Luke's examination. "Luke's right, she's like a stiff."

"Not like a stiff, Clyde. We reversed the polarity of the pull between Sarah, Ruby, and Ruby's stomach." The Doctor motioned to the red mass of stomach that was now shrinking.

"That's a stomach? Seriously?" Clyde asked, pointing at it now.

"Seriously—"

"Oh, that is just disgusting." The look on Clyde's face was priceless as one hand covered his mouth. "I don't think I'm ever going to eat again."

"Nonsense, Clyde. The stomach here took Sarah's life energy and channelled through the bracelet to Ruby, who pulled from it. However, by reversing the polarity and deactivating the bracelet like Rani did, the energy was transmitted backwards—"

"—And since the stomach had too much energy to deal with, it released it back to its original source." Luke finished the Doctor's explanation. "Like indigestion."

"Exactly. Gastrointestinal distress at its finest." The Doctor nearly grinned at Luke's brilliance. Luke was indeed Sarah's son.

He then shifted his attention to Sarah as the waves of white covered her in gentle ripples around her body. He felt her body's warmth returning and knew that her life force was being restored.

"Rani?" Clyde turned to Rani, reaching for her outstretched hands and holding them in her own with the screwdriver between them. "Rani, it's okay. We're all okay."

Rani stared at Clyde before stepping forward and wrapping her arms around him, her shaking visible. The Doctor looked up and gave them a knowing smile, waiting for Sarah to open her eyes.

It wasn't until he felt her fingers curl into his shirt that he knew she was waking up.

"Is this real?" Sarah whispered as her forehead touched the Doctor's neck. Even with her normally soft voice, her whisper was much too quiet for the Doctor's liking.

"Oh, yes, most definitely real." He smiled, putting his right hand over hers and holding it for comfort. "Welcome back, Smith."

"Thank you." Sarah stared out into the space in front of her, refusing to let go of him or try and move. The delirium was slowly fading away to something more substantial, but Harry had been right, a fact that she would undoubtedly tell the Doctor later when her legs weren't feeling like jelly.

"Doctor, what are we going to do with her?" Luke didn't know what to do, exactly. Clyde was still holding on to a shaking Rani, and the Doctor was still holding his Mum while Ruby lay unmoving on the floor.

It made for a strange sight, indeed.

"Rani, you have the sonic. Hand it to Luke so that he can readjust it. Setting fifty-seven, Luke." The Doctor ordered, as Clyde handed Luke the sonic from Rani's hands. Luke adjusted the sonic much quicker than he had the first time.

"Alright, now what?" Luke asked, glancing over to see the Doctor lean his head against Sarah's.

"The sonic's power signal should reactivate the bracelet just enough to transport her back to her pod, where she belongs. We'll get Mr. Smith and K-9 to do the rest."

Luke pointed the sonic at Ruby, and this time, it worked flawlessly as she disappeared.

"Alright then, does everyone remember where we parked?" The Doctor smiled, hugging his Sarah tighter with his hand still wrapped around hers.

\--

  
After several neurological scans and tests, Sarah sat on the edge of the UNIT hospital bed, tapping her fingers along the side of the bed as the Doctor stood in front of her. He had left the room as she changed back from the hospital gown into her street clothes, and now they were just waiting to hear back her test results.

Despite her protests that Mr. Smith's medical scan was sufficient enough, the Doctor wanted to be sure that she was in perfect health. He hadn't forgotten that when Martha left the TARDIS, she donated her expertise and know-how to the medical sector of UNIT, making them more knowledgeable than the average set of physicians.

He only hoped that knowledge benefited Sarah.

"Feeling alright? Nothing hurting or feeling the least bit foggy?" The Doctor asked, noticing the red marks from the shackles that still lined Sarah's wrists as she lifted her hands, lacing and unlacing her fingers several times.

"Not since the last time you asked. I feel fine, Doctor." Sarah sighed, resigned to his rather overprotective attitude. Truth be told, she was still quite tired, but not about to tell him that. "You're hovering, you know."

"Hovering is what I do now, Smith. Get used to it." He tried to smile. "I'll feel better knowing for certain that you're alright. UNIT has one of the best facilities on Earth and all of your scans on file. It's all just a precautionary measure."

"We can't always be precautionary, Doctor." Sarah's hands once again went to the side of the bed as she closed her eyes and let her head fall forward, her chin to her chest. "In fact, sometimes, it's quite the opposite."

"It's the opposite that makes me worry about you." He moved closer to her, raising one hand up to touch her cheek with the curved back of his knuckles. "Because I can't always be here with you, making sure that you're safe."

"What happened was no one's fault but my own." Sarah looked up, and saw the pain and concern in his dark eyes before bowing her head again. She had seen that look before. "I should have known better."

"Sarah—"

"I was too insecure and trusting of Ruby to see what she was doing." She swallowed the lump in her throat. "How stupid am I?"

"Sarah, look at me." He dropped his hand under her chin and tilted her face upward so that her eyes came into line with his. "Things happen. We all make mistakes and fall flat on our collective rear ends, and that's perfectly acceptable because as long as we're making mistakes, we're giving ourselves the chance to learn."

"At what cost?" As her voice dropped, Sarah sniffled, reaching up to wipe at her nose. "I put the kids in so much danger. What if something had happened to them? I'd never forgive myself."

The Doctor took a deep breath and sat down beside her on the bed, folding his hands together.

"It is never wise to think of the what ifs, Sarah. Believe me." He tried to smile. "Although, I must say your brilliant children are growing at an alarming rate. Soon, they'll be off exploring the universe on their own with the knowledge you've given them. It'll be quite impressive, I assure you."

"And what if something goes wrong? We don't have the luxury of regeneration on this planet, Doctor." Sarah sighed, trying to hold all her emotions in as the Doctor turned his head and looked away. How many people had he lost because something had gone wrong?

A moment later, a familiar voice entered the room. "That's a shame." The Doctor and Sarah looked towards the door to see a man in a set of green scrubs and a white lab coat intently studying the contents of the file folder in his hands. "Although, I daresay it matters. You, Sarah Jane, are still going to be fighting aliens for a great deal longer than anyone expected."

"Harry?" For a moment, Sarah thought her eyes were playing tricks and that the delirium had returned. The same dark curls belonging to Harry in his youth belonged to this man, yet the facial features were slightly different. She quickly realized that there was no possible way that this man was her old friend. She had received the call about Harry years ago from Alistair himself.

"I'm afraid not. My name's Dr. Ian Sullivan. I'm Harry's son." The young physician lowered the file folder to smile, his eyes sparkling with excitement at seeing the surprised look on Sarah and the Doctor's face. "And I've heard wonderful things about the both of you."

"I bet you have." The Doctor grinned, obviously amused at their luck as he hopped down from the bed but remained close to Sarah. "Harry Sullivan was quite the imbecile, but apparently, a productive one. It is a pleasure to meet you, Ian."

"The pleasure is all mine, really." Ian smiled. "When I heard that you were both here, I requested to be assigned to you, Sarah Jane. Sir Alistair was more than happy to intervene."

"Good old Alistair." The Doctor smiled again, and noticed the slight shock still on Sarah's face as he clapped his hands together. "Right then, Ian Sullivan, you hold the fate of one Sarah Jane Smith in your hands. So, let's hear it. What did the scans find?"

"Oh, right." Ian turned his attention to the file folder in his hands, flipping through several pages of lab results and looking at the various numbers as he took two steps forward. "Let me just say that for your age, Sarah Jane, you're in remarkably excellent health. Not even the usual amount of arthritis or osteoporosis in your bones. If I didn't know better, I'd almost say you've discovered a fountain of youth or something."

"No, just a small amount of artron energy, relatively speaking." The Doctor took a step forward, and then turned to Sarah. "I know, I really have to start paying better attention. Ian, please continue."

"What about the MRI?" Sarah found her voice, croaking at the words. Her brain scans where the ones that concerned her the most. During the whole mess with Ruby, Mr. Smith had said that parts of her brain had made her a very ill woman. She didn't know how that could be reversed.

"You are suffering from symptoms of a slight concussion. Very slight, but still there." Ian closed the file, and watched Sarah's face. "I've heard my father's stories. Should I be more concerned about the concussion? Run a different type of test? If the symptoms are really bothering you—"

"No." The Doctor caught Sarah's eyes and held them as he exhaled a sigh of relief. "A slight concussion, we can handle. No further tests required. It's the larger more complicated things that we'd need the extra tests."

"We could monitor your symptoms if you wanted." Ian closed the file folder and held it to his chest. "You came in fairly dehydrated, Sarah Jane. The one thing I would suggest is a good meal with plenty of fluids and some rest."

Sarah nodded, "Home is sounding pretty good right about now."

"Well, I trust you'll see her home, Doctor?" Ian waited for the Doctor to nod his head before making his exit. The Doctor noticed Sarah's gaze following Ian to the door, wondering what she was thinking, but hesitating to ask.

Instead, he rubbed his hands together and plowed ahead with his next line of thought. "So, Smith, what do you think? I know a great little bistro on the edge of the Sagittarius Dwarf Elliptical Galaxy that is absolutely spectacular."

"Doctor—" Sarah tilted her head, a warning obviously implied. "I'd like to spend some time with Luke before he goes back."

"He can come. They can all come. Rani and Clyde too, oh wait, maybe not them. I'm pretty sure when I takeoff that I'll receive my warning from the Judoon."

"I don't think so, Doctor. Not this time."

"Oh come on, Sarah, young Sullivan said you should eat something. Maybe something Earthbound? Fresh Italian from Tuscany? Slouvaki from Greece? Ooh, what about a Nathan's hot dog from New York City. I love those."

"Doctor." Sarah licked her lips. "How about something less strenuous and a little closer to home?"

"What did you have in mind?" As Sarah moved off the bed, the Doctor reached for her, putting one hand on her elbow and the other towards her wrist, supporting her as her feet hit the floor.

"Oh, nothing, except a few containers of takeaway and a quiet evening at home." Sarah looked up at him as he took a step back, giving him a small reassuring smile. "It would do us all some good to take the night off."

"I think I'd like that." The Doctor extended an arm out to Sarah and smiled as she looped her arm through his as they headed for the door.


End file.
